Requiem
by LycanBeks
Summary: Three young girls witness the murder of a marine and wind up at NCIS. Gibbs feels a connection to these girls especially when he discovers who their mother is. Will Gibbs ever tell them about his and their mother's past or will the three remain oblivious. Set in Season 7. In this story Gibbs and Jenny met in 1993.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS. Only the Ocs.

Character Bios

Leah Nicole Shepard- 15, looks like her father except she has her mother's smile, eyes, and nose. In the 9th grade at Georgetown prep. Birthday January 19th. Takes care of her younger sisters. Plays volleyball, swimming, and softball in their seasons from 3-5.

School Schedule:

Day 1: Day 2:

8-9 Geometry Latin

9:05-10:05 Biology Art

10:10-11:10 English Psychology

11:15-12:15 A. History Gym/Computers

Lunch Lunch

12:50-2:15 Study Hall Study Hall

Elena Selene Shepard- 12, looks like both her parents with blue eyes and brown hair. In the 7th grade at Georgetown prep. Birthday February 27th. Called Lena by her friends and Ellie by her family. Plays volleyball, and swimming, undecided for the spring in their seasons from 3-5.

School Schedule:

Day 1: Day 2:

8-9 Latin English

9:05-10:05 Science Spanish

10:10-11:10 Gym Computers

11:15-12:15 History Art

Lunch Lunch

12:50-2:15 Study Hall Study Hall

Madeline Rose Shepard- 9, looks like her mother but has her father's smile and eyes. In the 4th grade at Jefferson Elementary. Birthday June 5th. Everyone calls her Maddie. Struggles in Math and takes dance classes Monday-Friday from 3-6.

Prologue

It was Sunday morning when three sisters decided to go to the park. The two older sisters ran around the track while the youngest of the three was on the swings humming to herself. Two hours later, the sisters decided to go to the library to do some homework.

Once at the library, the three girls quickly realized that they were going to get very little work done due to the unexplainable amount of heat in January. It was so nice out, that the sisters wanted to be outside but they had work to do. After finishing their homework, the girls went into the bathroom. "Leah, can you braid my hair?" Maddie asked.

"Yeah, come here."

As Leah briskly braided her baby sister's hair, Elena opened a window to cool down a little. As she was looking out of the window, she saw a man lying on the ground. "Hey, guys, come here. I think this guy got mugged."

"What?" Maddie asked. The two sisters stood next to Elena and looked out the window. "Should we call the police?"

"I think this guy is coming to help." Leah said. The man in question approached the hurt man and shot him point blank. The girls gasped and ducked down, except Maddie who was so shocked she just stood there. When the man was gone, Maddie started screaming. "Maddie, stop!" Leah said covering her mouth. "Come on."

They walked outside and over to the man's body. "Is he o.k.?" Elena asked.

"Let me look, Lena. Maddie, stay with Ellie." Leah walked over to the man and felt for a pulse. "Fuck, he's dead." Leah walked away signaling for her sisters to follow. She went to the nearest payphone and gave an anonymous tip to the local p.d. "Come on, let's go." Leah said.

"But, Leah, shouldn't we report this?" Maddie asked.

"I just did. Come on, lets get out of here." the three girls got back to the orphanage before the caregiver noticed they were gone. Later that night, the children in the orphanage were watching the news when they saw the man that was killed.

"That guy was a marine." Elena said when they got back to their room.

"I know." Leah said.

"Does that mean that they are going to contact NCIS?" Maddie asked.

"Probably." Leah answered.

"What are we gonna do. Leah, what are we gonna do?"

"I don't know, Ellie, I don't know." They went to bed and the next morning, they got up and ready for school. As they walked out of the building, they were heading for the train they took every morning to school when Leah went to another train.

"Leah, where are you going?" Maddie asked.

"You'll see. Come on." She took Maddie's hand and they went to the Navy Yard.

"Is that-"

"Yup, Maddie, that's NCIS."

"Why? Are we going to tell them what happened?"

"Yeah."

"But I thought we weren't going to say anything." Elena said.

"I know, Elena, but mom would have wanted us to say something."

"O.k."

They walked into the Navy Yard and approached the front desk.

"Are you three lost?" the guard questioned.

"No. We witnessed the murder of that marine." Leah said.

"What? How could you three have possibly have seen it?"

"We were at the library when it happened and we saw it through the bathroom window."

"Hold on a second. Director Vance, we need you down here at the entrance. We have a situation here. No, sir, we have a couple of witnesses, but, sir, they're a bunch of kids."


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS

Chapter 1

Agent Gibbs walked into the bullpen with his trusty cup of black coffee and looked around at his team. "DiNozzo, where's Ziva?"

"She had a dentist appointment this morning, boss."

"Alright, what have you got, McGee?"

"Well there's been a bunch if emails sent to him over the last three months by Clark Hill. Apparently, Petty Officer James was having an affair with Hill's wife."

"Oh yeah, boss, Vance said there are a couple of witnesses that saw the death of the Petty Officer." Tony said.

"And you're just telling me this now?" Gibbs went downstairs to observation followed by his two agents."

"Agents." Vance said.

"Vance." Gibbs replied.

"I see DiNozzo gave you my message about the witnesses?"

"These are them, a bit young aren't they, Leon?"

"Yes they are, but they are still witnesses."

"Alright, I'll talk to them, see what I can find out." Gibbs walked to the interrogation room and stopped before he entered. He couldn't help but feel that these girls were familiar in some way. He opened the door quietly and saw the youngest and the only red head of the group sitting in the lap of the oldest who was currently braiding her hair and they were helping the youngest with her homework.

Meanwhile

After going through a series of questions, they were placed in interrogation around ten and had been waiting there for over two hours. "This is ridiculous. Why don't they interview us already?" Leah asked to no one in particular.

"Maybe they're in the field or something." Maddie said.

"Maddie, even if they had agents in the field, they would send someone else to get our statements." Leah said still pacing. "No, they have someone in the next room observing us."

"Leah, will you sit down? Your pacing is making me dizzy." Elena snapped.

Leah sighed ans placed Maddie in her lap and started braiding her sister's hair to keep her hands busy.

"Hey, did you finish your math homework?" Leah asked Maddie.

"No. Can you help?"

"Yeah. Take it out."

A little while later, the door opened and in walked a man in his fifties with salt and pepper hair. He sat down across from them and started observing them more closely. The younger two had blue eyes and it was clear to him that he intimidated him. The oldest of the three was the only one with green eyes but they stared back into his intensely. She was the only one not intimidated.

"What are your names?" Gibbs asked.

"I'm Leah, this is Elena and this is Maddie. We're 15, 12, and 9. Lena and I go to Georgetown prep while Maddie goes to Jefferson elementary. So are you going to interview us or waste time with humdrum chit chat?"

"I like you. You're a straight shooter. Don't lose that quality." Gibbs chuckled.

"What's your name?" Maddie asked.

"I'm Agent Gibbs."

"Wait a minute, Agent Gibbs? Our mom told us about you." Elena said.

"Really?"

"Uh huh." Maddie said.

"What has she told you about me?"

"She said that you don't take crap from anyone and you always have a gut feeling about a case that is rarely ever wrong. She also said you were the head agent of your team and that you worked in Europe and had three ex-wives." Maddie replied excitedly.

"Probably due to commitment issues arising from an absentee mother." Leah mumbled but everyone heard her.

"Leah! Agent Gibbs, you have to excuse my sister, she has no filter." Elena said.

"That's alright. Maddie, you said your mother told you all of this?"

"Yes!"

"Alright, now here's my question, who'e your mother?"

"Our mother was Jennifer Shepard." Elena said.

"What?!" Gibbs yelled.

The girls cringed upon hearing Gibbs yell especially Maddie who started snuggling closer to her sister.

Meanwhile

Tony, McGee, and Vance were listening to the conversation. "Wow, I'm shocked. Gibbs didn't give her one of his famous head slaps or even glare at her. Since when does he laugh when he is insulted?" Tony asked bewildered.

"Tony, he probably doesn't want to scare them even more then they already are." McGee replied.

"Probie, that one is not scared at all.' Tony pointed to Leah.

"She is scared, DiNozzo. Probably the most scared out of all of them. She just knows how to hide her emotions better." the director replied.

The team listened to the conversation intently when they heard Gibbs ask, "Alright, now here's my question, who's your mother?"

"Our mother was Jennifer Shepard." Elena said.

"What?!" Gibbs yelled.

"What?!" The three of them yelled in observation.

"I'm calling Abby." McGee said.

"I'm calling Palmer." Tony said.

With Abby

"O.k. babies, I need you to cooperate for me so I can get this evidence ready for Gibbs."

She felt her phone vibrating. "Oh, a text from Timmy." Abby read the text and screamed, "Madam Director had kids!?"

With Ducky and Palmer

Jimmy Palmer felt a buzzing coming from his pocket. "Excuse me, doctor." Palmer removed his gloves and checked his messages. "Oh it's from Tony about the witnesses. He says that they are Director Jenny Shepard's kids."

"Ah that's nice." Ducky said. He went back to examining the body. "Wait a tick, did you say Director Shepard's children?"

"Yes."

"As in the former director of this agency?"

"Yes."

"Come along, Mr. Palmer. Let's see what is happening upstairs."


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS.

Chapter 2

Gibbs noticed that the youngest of the girls was whimpering and burying her head into her older sister's neck. He got up and knelt down next to her. "I'm sorry, honey. I didn't mean to yell like that. You o.k. now?" Gibbs asked while rubbing her back gently.

After a few minutes, Elena looked at her watch and started panicking. "We shouldn't have stayed here for so long. Leah, we have midterms next week, we should be studying." Elena started to hyperventilate.

"Is she alright?" Gibbs asked Leah.

"She always gets like this whenever a test comes up. During midterms and finals though it goes so bad she drops ten pounds. She gets really sick." Leah replied.

Gibbs got up and got a trash can and handed it to Elena. "Here. If you get sick, use this."

"Thank you."

Just then, Maddie's stomach started growling. "Sorry, I didn't have lunch or much of a breakfast."

"DiNozzo, get in here."

"Yeah, boss?" Tony said after he walked in.

"Can you take Maddie and Elena to the conference room and get them something to eat?"

"Sure, boss. C'mon, girls. Do you two like chocolate milk?"

"Is that a serious question?" Maddie asked jokingly.

"Mads, behave." Leah warned her youngest sister.

Maddie and Elena walked out of the interrogation room with Agent DiNozzo.

Meanwhile

Abby, Palmer, and Ducky ran into the observation room. "Where are they?" Abby asked.

"They're in interrogation with Gibbs." McGee said pointing through the glass.

"Aww, that little one looks just like the former director." Abby cooed.

"Director, did you know about Director Shepard's children?" Ducky asked.

"No. But I'm going to pull their files, see what I can find out about them." Vance left the room to go to his office.

"What have you guys learned about them?" Palmer asked.

"Not much. Just that the Director had told them about Gibbs." McGee replied.

"Wow, McGeek, Elena is like a min you when it comes to school."

"Shut up, Tony."

"DiNozzo, get in here." They heard the boss yell.

Tony walked into the room and said, "Yeah, boss?"

"Can you take Maddie and Elena to the conference room and get them something to eat?"

"Sure, boss. C'mon, girls. Do you two like chocolate milk?"

"Is that a serious question?" Maddie asked jokingly.

"Mad, behave." Leah warned.

When they left interrogation, Tony asked, "So what do you girls to do?"

"Play sports." Elena answered.

"Dance." Maddie replied.

"Really, what kind of sports?"

"Softball, swimming, and volleyball. Volleyball's my favorite though."

"What about you, cutie, what kind of dancing do you do?"

"A little bit of everything but I like ballet the most."

"Cool. So we have some peanut butter jelly sandwiches. What kind of jelly do you two like?"

"Whatever there is." Elena answered.

"Strawberry." Maddie said.

"Red like your hair." Tony said smiling at her causing the young girl to giggle.

"You must be Tony. Our mom told us about you." Elena said.

"Yeah, what did she say?" Tony asked curiously.

Before she could answer, the conference room door opened and Abby rushed in giving both girls a death grip hug. "You must be Abby." Elena said gasping for air.

"Abby, I don't think they can breathe." McGee said.

"Oh. I'm sorry. It's just... you look so much like your mom. I mean both of you look like her but you especially." Abby said touching Maddie's nose causing the young girl to smile.

"So you must be Ducky, Jimmy, and Timmy." Maddie said.

"Our mom told us stories about all of you." Elena said.

"Really? What exactly did she tell you three?" Abby said.

"She told us that you are probably the happiest goth to ever walk this planet and you work with forensics." Elena said.

"And you're McGee. Our mom told us that no one can work a computer like you and you write stories too." Maddie said excitedly.

"What did she say about Ducky and Jimmy?" Abby asked.

"Oh, she said that Ducky and Jimmy were probably two of the sweetest people that ever lived. And you two determine how a person died. She also said that Jimmy, you lack confidence even though you know what you're doing and you have all of the capabilities of being an excellent medical examiner. And Ducky always has a bar of chocolate in his jacket and a story that is appropriate for every situation." Maddie said.

"Well I think we're all curious to know what Jenny said about the most important member of our team." Tony said.

"Gibbs?" Abby asked.

"No, me. What has the director said about me?"

"Well, Tony, she said that you could quote any movie from start to finish and act out all of the parts too. She said that you are charming but most times that charm is irritating. She also said you act like a puppy around any fairly attractive female with a pulse and make inappropriate jokes whenever you can. And she said that you act like an annoying older brother to your fellow agents but at the end of the day, you love them." Elena said.

"Wow, that's dead on." McGee said impressed.

"Not really." Tony grumbled.

Just then, the door opened and Ziva walked in. "Ah, here you all are. I've been looking ev-"

"Ziva!" Maddie said excitedly launching herself into Ziva's arms.

"Maddie? Elena? What are you two doing here and where is Leah?" Ziva asked.

"Leah is with agent Gibbs." Elena said walking over to Ziva and hugged her.

"Why? What happened?" Ziva inquired.

"Wait a second. You know them?" Tony asked.

"Of course she does, or mommy worked with Ziva in Europe and Cairo." Maddie said.

"Ziva, we witnessed the death of a petty officer." Elena said quietly.

"What? Are you alright?"

"They're fine, Ziva." Gibbs said coming into the room with Leah.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS.

Chapter 3

This picks up right when Maddie and Elena left with Tony.

"Thank you. We couldn't eat much because we woke up late this morning."

"No problem. Now, we can talk."

"What do you want to talk about, the murder or my mother?"

"Right now let's focus on the murder. What did he look like, the shooter?"

"He was wearing jeans, a jacket, he was about your height and had a yankee's cap on."

"Nothing else?"

"He might have had brown hair but I didn't get a very good look. I ducked down and so did Elena."

"And Maddie?"

"She was watching the whole time and when the gun fired, she let out a scream. I grabbed her and covered her mouth. If anyone got a good look at him it would be her."

"Alright, now let's focus on the other issue."

"Oh, you mean my mother, why do you have such an interest in her?"

"Because she was the director of this agency."

"Is that the only reason Agent Gibbs or do you have a hidden agenda?"

"What makes you ask that question?"

"My gut."

Gibbs couldn't help but smile. "You're perceptive, ever thought of going into law enforcement?"

"I did."

"What's with the past tense or did you want to go to college or enter in the military first?"

"Agent Gibbs, it doesn't matter what I want because as soon as I'm done with high school I'm going to take care of my sisters and make sure that they are safe and happy. I have to make sure that they are able to do what they want with their lives."

"That is a big responsibility to take on."

"Well ever since I found out that my mother worked as an undercover federal agent, I prepared myself for it. I knew that there was always a chance of something happening to her and leaving me and my sisters on our own."

"You don't sound all that upset that she's gone."

"Well for one thing it has been over a year and two I had to be strong for my sisters."

"What about yourself?"

"What about me?"

"Well it's just for a teenager, you seem uncharacteristicly selfless." She shrugged. "Alright, C'mon let's go upstairs." They walked upstairs in silence and entered the conference room.

"What? Are you alright?" Ziva asked.

"They're fine, Ziva." Gibbs said with Leah following him into the room.

"Leah, thank god. What happened?" Ziva asked hugging her.

"We would like to know that." Tony said.

Gibbs walked over to Maddie and crouched down to her level. "Maddie, did you get a good look at the man?" Gibbs asked.

"A little." she said looking down.

"O.k. Did he have anything distinct about him?"

"When he shot the gun, his shirt rolled up a bit and it looked like he had a tattoo."

"What was the tattoo a picture of?"

"I think a cross."

"Anything else?"

"His hair was brown. A light brown."

"Can you remember anything else?"

"No, sorry. He was covered up really well."

Gibbs kissed her forehead and said, "That's o.k. You did your best."

"So are we done?" Leah asked.

"Just sit tight for a bit. I need to talk to the Director. Ziva with me."

Gibbs and Ziva walked out of the room and Ziva could tell Gibbs was beyond pissed. "Gibbs-"

"Don't, Ziva." He paused and took a breath to calm down. "Not until we talk to the Director."

"Agent Gibbs, I was just coming to get you." Vance said when the duo entered his office.

"What did you find out, Leon?"

"All of their files are classified. The only one who has access to them is SecNav. I have a meeting with him now in MTAC."

"I'm coming, I need to know what's going on." Ziva said.

The three of them went into MTAC to talk to SecNav. "Director Vance, Agent Gibbs, Agent David, what can I do for you?"

Vance opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by Gibbs, "Did you know about Jennifer Shepard's girls?"

"You mean her daughters? Of course I knew. Shepard wanted to ensure her daughters' safety by having all of their files secured and no one knowing about them."

"Why was no one notified about these girls after Jenny's death?" Vance asked.

"The three girls were to be placed in the custody of their father, however, no one knew who that was or if the girls even had the same father. So they were meant to be placed in the custody of officer David."

"Jenny wanted me to have custody?" Ziva asked.

"Yes, she trusted you, but because your position was terminated upon her death, the girls were sent to California to live with their grandmother."

"Then why are they in D.C?" Vance asked.

"Two months after they were sent to Los Angeles, their grandmother had a stroke and was unable to take care of them. Because the system in California was so full, they were sent back to D.C. There have been quite a few people interested in adopting the youngest and middle child but none for the oldest. However, they never let anyone adopt these girls."

"Why not?" Ziva asked.

"Those girls behave horribly to anyone who wants to adopt them."

"Well maybe there is a reason for that." Gibbs said.

"Agent Gibbs, watch your tone. But I must ask you all to keep a sharp eye on them. Their mother taught them well."

"Thank you, sir." Vance said before cutting the feed.

"So what do we do?" Ziva asked.

"Right now we keep them in protective custody." Gibbs said.

"For how long?"

"For six months, if in that time we cannot solve this case, they will be released." Vance said but Gibbs looked ready to argue.

"What happens to them at that point?"

"Let's focus on right now, Agent David."

"Director, I would like to volunteer as their primary protection detail."

"Are you sure you can handle them, Ziva?"

"I can handle them."

"Alright, Agent David. The three of them will be placed in your custody . I will leave it to you two to tell them."

"Well let's go talk to them, Ziver."

Meanwhile

"So, Maddie, where do you go to school?" McGee asked.

"Jefferson Elementary." She said taking a bit out of her sandwich.

"You know my sister went there." McGee said.

"So?" Maddie asked taking another bite of her sandwich.

"I don't really know."

"Even at that age you strike out with the ladies. So, Maddie, I hear creative writing is your favorite subject. It was my favorite too." Tony said.

"So?"

"I bow to the master." McGee said.

"So what do you girls do for fun?" Abby asked.

"Hang out with friends, watch T.V. and movies, read, Elena plays World of Warcraft." Leah said.

"Really, so does McGoo."

"What's your character's name, McGee?"

"Elflord5000."

"Oh, I've heard of you. I think we have quested together before."

"Really? Who are you?"

"Lendor the Conqueror."

"Wait your Lendor? You're a legend."

"Thanks, but from I've heard your not so bad yourself."

"You mentioned T.V. What shows do you girls watch?"

"A lot of shows like Two and a Half Men, Supernatural, Charmed, Angel, Buffy, Sex and the City, Big Bang Theory, and a few others."

"You watch Supernatural?" Abby exclaimed.

"Yup."

"Those seem a little inappropriate for young girls." Ducky said.

"They're not that bad." Elena said.

"What about movies what are your favorites?"

"K-9" Maddie said.

"What's the Worst that can Happen?" Elena said.

"Casino." Leah answered.

"Damn, those are some good choices, I like you girls already." Tony said.

"Leah, you really should eat something." McGee said.

"I'm not that hungry."

"Eat anyways." Gibbs said walking back into the room with Ziva.

"Agent Gibbs, what is going on?"

Gibbs sighed and said, "Based on what you have seen, you three will be placed into protective custody. However, since you three are minors, you need to go to school so we will work something out about that."

"Who are we going to be staying with?" Elena asked.

"You will be staying with Ziva until this investigation is over."

"Cool." Maddie said latching onto Ziva.

"Wait, we have stuff to do after school." Leah said.

"Like what?" Gibbs asked annoyed.

"Well, Lena and I have swimming practice and Maddie has dance. And don't even think about telling us we're not going."

"You're not going."

"That's not fair."

"We made a commitment."

"I'm still going."

"This is a serious situation! A Naval Officer was killed and you three may be next!" Gibbs yelled.

All three fell silent and the younger two looked down but Leah stared right into his eyes, challenging him. "Do you have any cell phones?" McGee asked.

"Yes." Maddie answered quietly.

"Hand them over." Gibbs said.

"What?" All three yelled.

"You heard me. Come on, pass them over."

All three of them passed over their cells and Leah said, "This is bullshit."

"Watch your mouth." Gibbs said.

"What she means is that this isn't fair. All we did was go into the bathroom and see a guy die and now it's like we are being punished for it." Elena said.

"Sorry you feel that way but that's not what's happening here."

"Sure feels like it." Leah grumbled.

"Stop with the smartass comments." Gibbs said. "Now come on. Ziva and I will go get your things. You three are not to disturb Agents DiNozzo or McGee while they work. Understand?"

"Yes, sir." they said sarcastically.

Gibbs glared at them and walked out with Ziva. The girls sat at Ziva's desk and talked quietly while Tony and McGee worked. Elena walked up to Tony and asked, "Can I go visit Abby? Please?"

"Fine it's on floor two, just follow the loud music."

"Thanks."

"Hey, is there a bathroom around here?" Leah asked.

"Yeah, down the hall on the left." McGee said.

"C'mon, Mads."

An hour later Gibbs and Ziva came back in with the girl's stuff.

"What have you got for me?" Gibbs asked.

"Boss, we checked with all his friends, family, and coworkers. They all say Petty Officer James was a model navy officer. He didn't get into fights or arguments with anyone and helped anyone he could." Tony said.

"What about the girlfriend's husband?"

"He has an alibi. His boss said he took a business trip to China at the time. And when checking his funds, there has been no large withdrawals at this point." McGee said.

"So you have nothing?"

"Pretty much."

"Well find something." Gibbs looked around and said, "Where are the girls?"

"Elena went down to Abby's and Leah and Maddie went to the bathroom." Tony said.

"But that was a while ago." McGee said.

"They're probably all with Abby." Tony suggested.

Gibbs glared at them and called Abby. "Abs, are they down there with you?... The girls... Thanks, Abs. They never went to Abby's lab."

"What about Ducky?" Tony suggested.

"I doubt they went there. Ziva check the bathroom, McGee check the security footage of NCIS for the last hour."

Ziva rushed back. "Gibbs, they're not in there."

"Boss, you might want to see this." McGee said. McGee showed them the surveillance camera of the girls walking out of the Navy Yard.

Gibbs slapped both McGee and Tony's heads. "How could you let them out of your sights?"

"Sorry, Boss, but how were we supposed to know this would happen?" Tony said.

"You saw the way they were acting. They wanted to get out of here. One. Two, they were raised by Jenny Shepard. She would have taught those girls how to escape from any situation, get what they want, and how to stay hidden." Gibbs snapped.

"He's right. They are well trained." Ziva said.

"How would you know, Ziva?" Tony asked.

"About a year before Jenny became director, she and her daughters visited Mossad. At the time, Leah was 9, Elena was 7, and Maddie was only 4. Mossad trains some of their recruits from a ver young age. Elena and Leah both joined the recruits to keep busy while their mother worked. Both excelled at the training that they each moved up a division, Elena to the preteen division and Leah to the teenage one. Both were put through a training course. Elena finished in forty five minutes on a course that normally takes and hour to complete."

"And Leah?" Gibbs asked.

"She finished her course in thirty minutes. The course she was one usually takes ninety minutes to complete. She broke the record. I should know because I used to hold that record." Ziva said with pride. "My father wanted to recruit them but Jenny and I would not let that happen."

"So they were exceptional enough to be recruited?" McGee inquired.

"Yes."

"Is there anyone you can think that they would go to for protection?" Gibbs asked.

"No one that I can think of."

"McGee, Ziva, take a car. DiNozzo, with me."

"Where are we going, boss?"

"The orphanage."


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS.

Chapter 4

They got to the orphanage twenty minutes later and talked to the caregiver. "Agents, as I told you earlier on the phone these girls had many people interested in adopting the younger two but none for the oldest?"

"Why not?" Gibbs asked.

"Well for one thing her attitude and two she is older than the age that people would like to adopt."

"Well these girls are to remain in NCIS custody until this investigation is over. We will be needing their things."

"I'm sorry but I can't. Maddie has a family lined up willing to adopt her."

"You call them and tell them that is not happening. These girls are not being separated, not now not ever." Gibbs seethed. "Now are you going to tell me which room they are in or do I need to get a court order?"

"The three of them share a room. Room 571."

"McGee, Ziva, go get their things. Is there anywhere that these girls would have gone to feel safe?"

"That would be here. The three of them are safe here."

"I'm sure that is true but is there anywhere else?" Tony said before Gibbs could say something smart.

"Well there is Leah's friend, Adam Longo. He lives with his two older brothers and goes to school with Leah."

"Where do they live?"

"Not sure of the actual address but they live in the projects. I'd watch out though, the Longo's are in a gang. Agent Gibbs, be careful, those kids are not to be underestimated, especially Leah."

After finding the address, around nine at night, the team reached the Longo residence. All of them got out and knocked on the front door. "Who is it?" they heard through the door.

"NCIS! Open up!" Gibbs yelled.

"Yeah right, man." a man of about twenty three opened the door. "You guys have badges."

All of them open their wallets and show their badges. "O.k. so you are legit. What can I do for you?"

"We're looking for the Shepard sisters. We heard your brother Adam is friends with Leah." Tony said.

"They're best friends. And I know them too. We're all good friends. We take care of each other."

"Have you seen them?" Gibbs asked.

"I don't have to answer that."

Ziva grabbed him by his shirt collar and slammed him into the door frame. "Where are they?"

"I'm not telling you."

"It's o.k., Joe. They're o.k. They won't hurt us." Elena said coming from the back room.

"Elena, where are your sisters?" Ziva said hugging her.

"Maddie's in the bathroom."

"And Leah?" McGee asked.

"I'm not sure. She left about an hour ago."

"Do you know where they are, Joe?" Gibbs asked with a tense voice.

"No, I honestly don't, but let me call them. See where they're going." He gestured for all of them to come in. "Sorry it's a bit of a mess but we have some messy house guests."

"That's fine."

Joe went into the kitchen to make some calls while they all sat on the couches and chairs in the T.V. room. Maddie came out of the bathroom and her eyes widened upon entering the room. "Uh oh."

"Maddie, come here." Ziva said.

Maddie walked over to Ziva who grabbed the young girl and gave her a fierce hug. "I have to say, you girls were really difficult to find. How did you do it?" Tony asked. Gibbs then slapped him on the head.

"Well, umm, our mom told us about your skills and we knew that you would use security cameras to try to find us so we avoided those as much as we could." Elena said.

"Smart kids." Gibbs said.

"I told Leah that this was a bad idea."

Joe came out and said, "O.k. right now all of them are just hanging out but they're eventually going to head over to Jose Sanchez's party. He lives five streets over."

"Who told you this?" McGee asked.

"My brother, Dom. Right now Leah is with him, Adam, and our friends Derrick, Carmelo, Brian, Nick, James, Victor, and Tommy. He said their going over there around ten."

"Leah is alone with all those boys!" Gibbs shouted.

"Relax, Leah, Maddie, and Lena are like our sisters. We all have had rough pasts and we take care of each other. None of us would hurt these girls. They're safe with us. They're in more danger at that orphanage."

"How did all of you meet?" McGee asked.

"My father was a marine. A gunnery sergeant. He was in cuba when he met a woman, my mom. My father's C.O. however, had a thing for her too. He hurt her then blamed it on my father. They gave him a dishonorable discharge. He went to NCIS for help , to get that revoked and to bring my mom here. Jenny helped my father and they remained friends for years. When Jenny died, I promised I would be there for her girls. So you see Agent Gibbs, I would never allow those girls to get hurt."

"Alright. Ziva, Tony, with me. Tim, stay here with the girls and in case Leah shows back up."

"Got it, boss." McGee said.

They drove over to the Sanchez house and saw that the party was in full swing. "Alright let's go in." Gibbs said. "NCIS!" He screamed once inside and all of the kids scattered.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS.

Chapter 5

With Leah

After Leah got her sisters to the Longo house, they all ate pizza. Leah received a call from her boyfriend, Aaron and the screaming could be heard from down the block. When she got off the phone, the boys could see that she was ready to start crying and they wanted to cheer her up.

"Hey, we should go out and just hang." Dom suggested.

All of them agreed but Joe was really tired from work and decided to stay home. Since he wasn't coming with them, Leah asked him to watch Elena and Maddie. He agreed, they all went out.

At the convenience store, they ran into Jose who was buying beer. "Hey, Jose what going on, man." Victor asked.

"Nothing much, man. Just having a party tonight. You all should stop by."

"We'll check it out. See you there, man."

Once at the party, Leah ran into Aaron and they got into another friends tried to get her to relax but it wasn't working. Leah went into the yard and sat in a tree. Dom came out to talk to her. "Hey."Dom said sitting next to her.

"Hi."

"You o.k?"

"Aaron and I got into a fight."

"That guys an asshole. You can do better than him."

"Yeah, like who?"

"Think about it, it'll come to you." He put his arm around her shoulders and she leaned her head on his shoulder.

"You're the sweetest guy I know." She whispered.

She looked up at him and he looked at her. Before anything could happen, they heard, "NCIS!"

Dom grabbed her hand and they started running. The two if them met up with all of their friends along the way and they ran back to the Longo house. They entered the house from the back and went into the living room. "Hey, Mads, Ellie, we're going to crash here tonight. Then go to school tomorrow." She said making her way into the living room. "Agent McGee, what are you doing here?"

"Watching your sisters." he said simply.

Just then a car screeched to a halt in front of the house. "What the hell?" Tommy said looking out the window.

"Shit, it's those Feds from the party." Victor said.

"We'll see you guys later. You know we would never jump ship be we can't afford to get in trouble with the cops." Carmelo said.

All of the of the boy ran except for the Longo brothers. Gibbs came in and he looked pissed. Ziva and Tony came in behind him and stood next to McGee and watched Gibbs' reaction. "Sit now." Gibbs seethed.

"Look I know you're pissed but are you pissed that a couple of kids escaped from your custody or because we're Jenny's kids?" Leah said with a smirk.

"I've just about had it with you." Gibbs snarled.

"Well that didn't take long."

"Quiet!" Leah shut her mouth but stared unfalteringly at Gibbs. "Alright, this is what we're going to do, my agents and I are going to go to stay with you throughout the day including any after school activities."

"Wait, you're letting us go to our activities?" Elena asked shocked.

"You three made a commitment, right? That's it then."

"Thank you." Maddie said.

"Now come on." Elena and Maddie drove to NCIS with McGee and Ziva while Leah was with Gibbs and Tony.

When they reached NCIS, the three girls started walking over to Ziva's car to go home with her when they heard a whistle. "Where do you three think you guys are going?" Gibbs asked.

"I thought we were staying with Ziva?" Leah asked.

"That was the original plan, but after the little stunt you pulled, you three are staying with me."

"You're kidding?"

"Nope, now get in the car."

They drove to Gibbs' house in silence. When they got there, Elena, Leah, and Gibbs took the bags while Maddie opened the door. "C'mon I'll show you where you three will be sleeping."

They walked upstairs and Gibbs said, "There's my room and the guest room. Split yourselves into whatever rooms you want."

"What about you?" Maddie asked.

"I'm gonna be on the couch. If you need me just come get me. Now I suggest all of you get to bed. You three have school in the morning."

With that Gibbs went downstairs and the girls chose which room they would be sleeping in. Maddie and Elena thought sleeping in Gibbs' room was too weird, so they took weird so they took the guest room while Leah took Gibbs' room.

Around four, Elena got up and let her sister hog the covers. She went downstairs to study for her finals next week. While reading her science textbook, she heard noises coming from the basement. She went downstairs and saw Agent Gibbs working on his boat. "Woah." she said upon seeing the boat.

Gibbs didn't even look up when he said, "Elena, shouldn't you be in bed?"

"I was but now I'm not."

"Why?" Gibbs said taking a sip of his bourbon.

"A combination of things. Like all of the stress of today and the stress of finals next week and the fact that my baby sister is a cover hog. Although I shouldn't complain, I'm a cover hog too. And I'm rambling."

"That's o.k. You're mom was the same way when she was on my team." Gibbs said with a small smile.

"Being a cover hog or a rambler?"

"Both."

"What was she like as an agent?"

"Oh, well your mom was the quickest study I've ever had. She was a great agent. I never understood why she chose the political side of NCIS versus the agent side."

"Neither did I. I know she always missed being an agent."

There was a moment of silence between them before she asked, "Gibbs, how many boats have you made?"

"Lost count."

"No you haven't."

"What?"

"I said no you haven't. You know how many you built." Gibbs just smiled but didn't answer her.

"What do you do with them after you finish them?"

"Different things."

"Fine, keep your secrets." She said with a small smile that Gibbs returned.

"You look like her." Gibbs said simply. "Your mom I mean."

"Maddie looks more like her than I do." She picked up the sander and asked, "Can I help?"

"Yeah." Gibbs came around to see how she was sanding the boat. "No, not like that. You always want to go with the grain of the wood." Gibbs said and showed her how to do it properly. "You still look a lot like her, Elena. And you also have her personality. You even carry yourself in the same manner as her."

"Having the same personality as her might be the reason why she and I bumped heads so much. She always told me that I wanted too much too fast and that I should slow down and have some fun."

"She's right. So I have you figured out and Maddie is not that difficult to figure out, but Leah is completely different." Gibbs said.

"Yeah, she's the most complex out of all of us. Mommy said she got that from daddy. Honestly, if she and mommy didn't have the same eyes, I'd say she was adopted or something."

"Speaking of your father, do you know who he is?"

"No, but mommy said we all have the same father."

"But you're not sure."

"Well I never met the man so I don't know."

"Did your mother ever give a hint as to who he could be?"

"No. But I always imagined what he would be like."

"Really and what did you imagine?"

"That he would be strong, brave, have dark hair, blue eyes, loving, a real shoulder-to-cry-on. That kind of thing I guess. But it's just a fantasy."

"I'm sure you'll learn who your father is."

"I hope so."

"You will."

"Are you always so self-assured?"

"Always." Gibbs said with a smirk before turning back to work on the boat and Elena did the same.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS.

A/N: this chapter is mainly a flashback that Gibbs is remembering, but it is important to the story.

Chapter 6

The next morning, Gibbs woke up on the couch like he did any other day. When he tried to get up, he had a difficult time due to the fact that Elena was sleeping on his chest. He smiled slightly and couldn't help but think what would have happened if Jenny had never left him in London. He always wondered if he and Jenny would have gotten married and had children like the ones that Jenny had with another man. He couldn't help but envy the man who had fathered these three beautiful girls. Gibbs picked Elena up very easily and placed her back on the couch and covered her with a blanket.

He started cooking pancakes for the girls, knowing that they were going to need their energy today. Gibbs remembered the last time he had pancakes with Jenny, it was right after he had made love to her. Stephanie had just moved out and he came back from a boring day of work that revolved around paperwork. He was making his way into the basement when he smelled vanilla and jasmine. He hadn't smelled that scent since Paris. He went into his basement and saw Jenny sitting there. "Jen, what are you doing here?" Gibbs asked.

"I was in the neighborhood and I just wanted to say hello to my old partner. Any one would."

"Yeah, anyone would but not you. Why are you here, Jen?"

"I... I missed you, Jethro."

"Yeah, you weren't so concerned about missing me when you letter me that Dear John letter back in London."

"I'm sorry that was a cowardly way to end things. Things were moving so fast between us and I didn't know how to tell you about the job offer in Spain."

"That's your excuse?"

"Jethro, I'm sorry. I really am and I wish that there was a less cliché way to say sorry but there isn't so I'll say it again, I'm sorry."

Gibbs couldn't deny that she looked good and he grabbed her by her waist. He smashed his lips against hers and they continued kissing while peeling each others clothes off. Gibbs pushed her up against his boat and made love to her.

The next morning, Jenny woke up and found herself lying in bed with Gibbs' arm around her. They had made love on just about every surface of Gibbs' house before making it his bedroom. Gibbs started to stir and kissed Jenny when he saw her. "I thought it was all a dream." Gibbs said.

"So did I." Gibbs was going to roll on top of Jenny again when she pushed him off of her. "Jethro, I have no energy left. You've worn me out and the only way you'll get any out of me is if I get some food into my system."

"You never could pace yourself very well. Fine, I'll make you breakfast."

"You can cook?"

"Don't look so surprised, Jen. Between my divorces I had to learn how to feed myself besides takeout."

"Good for you."

"So how has Europe been treating you."

"I like it but it's not like D.C. I miss it here."

"Why don't you ask for a transfer?"

"I did but they need me in Europe. I have temporary leave right now. But enough about me, who's your new team?"

"They're good but it's nothing like what we used to be. Remember serving with Mike and Pacci and Decker." (A/N: I know Mike and Jenny never worked together when they were both field agents but for the sake of the story I changed that little detail)

"Yeah, working with Ducky and Lucy."

"You know what I remember most?"

"What?"

"Making love to you all over that building."

"Really, I thought for sure it would have been when Diane and I got into that catfight that ended with both her and I taking a dip into the Reflecting pool."

"Yeah, that was pretty memorable. I couldn't believe that you two did that."

"Yeah, and none of you idiots pulled us apart."

"Well I was not about pull apart two women that were fighting in a pool."

"Typical male."

The two of them were silent while they were eating their pancakes that Gibbs made. When they finished, Jenny was in deep thought. "Jethro, there's something I need to tell you."

Before she could tell him, Gibbs was kissing her passionately again and they proceeded to make love again. The next day, Jenny walked out of his life again.

Thinking back on it now, Gibbs couldn't help but think that Jenny was going to tell him about her girls. Thinking about Jenny and their last time together, Gibbs realized that the timeline between that moment fit with Maddie's age. "Oh my god." Gibbs said quietly.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS.

Chapter 7

Elena woke up and smelled the pancakes. She followed her nose into the kitchen and saw Gibbs staring off into space. "Morning." When Gibbs didn't respond she said, "Gibbs, are you o.k.?"

"What, oh yeah I'm fine. How'd you sleep?"

"Good, I know why you sleep on that couch. It's really comfy?"

"Yeah it is."

"Uhh, Gibbs, the pancakes are burning."

"Oh, crap." Gibbs put the pancakes on a plate and turned to Elena. "Ellie, could you go and wake your sisters?"

"Sure. Did you call me Ellie?"

"Yeah, sorry I know only your sisters call me that and-"

"No, it's o.k. I don't mind. It's nice to hear it from an adult again. My mom was the one to give me the nickname. My grandmother named me but my mom thought that Elena was too grown-up of a name for me."

"Yeah, so she called you Ellie."

"Yeah. I'm gonna go get Maddie and Leah."

After breakfast, Gibbs drove the girls to school and met up with the rest of his team. "O.k. Let's take Maddie to school first." They dropped Maddie off and got a map of the school and a schedule of her classes. The principal at Maddie's school was very helpful, but not so much at Leah's and Elena's school.

When they got to Leah and Elena's school, a man was standing out front with a stopwatch. "Oh, good you two actually made it school on time for a change."

"Only to see your smiling face, Mr. Davenport." Leah said sarcastically.

"My office, now." The man said with a serious tone.

"What the hell, Leah." Elena whispered to her sister.

"Calm down." They walked into the office with the MCRT behind them.

"Sit." Mr. Davenport said to both of the girls. The MCRT came in behind them and stood in the room. "Who the hell are you four?"

"I'm Special Agent Gibbs from NCIS and this is my team, Agents DiNozzo, McGee, and David. We are here to protect the Shepard girls."

"Protect them from what?"

"We are not at liberty to discuss."

"Well, I always said that these girls needed a parole officer, I guess society finally agreed with me. They were smart and gave them four. I'm Owen Davenport, Vice principal, gym teacher, and coach of various teams on campus. You see the little one there, she has been caught cheating twice in the last month alone. But this one she is by far the worst, she has gotten into four fights, within the last week with various classmates. These are the worst students in my school-"

"Your school?" A feminine voice said. Upon hearing the voice, Mr. Davenport jumped out of the chair. The group looked up and saw a woman in a gray suit come into the room and she smiled at them. The woman had brown hair and brown eyes and was about 5'6. "Good morning, girls." She said to Leah and Elena.

"Morning, Ms. Miles.

"Mr. Davenport, what is going on here?"

"Oh, I was just explaining to NCIS here some of the duties as Vice Principal."

"Yes, speaking of which, how is it going with finding out who has been vandalizing the bathrooms with mustard?"

"Oh yes that is an ongoing investigation."

"Well, I'll let you get back to work then and thank you for keeping my chair warm for me." Mr. Davenport walked out of the room with a scowl on his face. "Girls, why don't you get to class. I'll give you girls some leeway due to special circumstances."

"Thank you, Ms. Miles." Both girls said before walking out of the room.

Ms. Miles got up and poured herself some coffee. "Can I get any of you some coffee?"

"Thank you." Gibbs said.

She handed them each a mug before sitting behind her desk. "Is he all there?" Gibbs asked Ms. Miles.

"Yeah, Owen, is harmless but he can be a bully at times. So what can I do for NCIS?"

"Ms. Miles-"

"Call me April."

"April, we have a situation on our hands. The Shepard girls have witnessed a murder and they need to be in protective custody at all times."

"Are they alright?"

"They are fine but we would like to monitor the perimeter and make sure that the girls are really safe here."

"Well whatever I can do to help NCIS, Special Agent..."

"Gibbs."

"Gibbs. Oh I know you, you helped my brother years ago. Tommy Miles."

"Oh yeah, how is he?"

"He's good. He became a gunnery sergeant and he is loving life."

"Well April thank you for letting us have access to your school but we're also going to need maps of the perimeter and class schedules of the both girls."

"Absolutely. Let me get all of you copies." She tried to access her computer when she said. "Crap. Sorry this computer is terrible and I think my system just crashed."

"It's alright."

"I can fix that for you." McGee spoke up. He came next to her and saw the problem. "Try it now."

"Thank you." She said with a smile when it worked.

"You're welcome."

"O.k. here we go, class schedules and maps."

"Thank you, April. Just one more thing, is what Davenport said about the girls true?" Gibbs asked.

"Unfortunately yes. In Elena's case, it's not that she is asking another student to copy their work or anything but I think she is being bullied by older girls and the girls in her class into doing their work. She's a really sweet kid but she needs to work on her self-confidence."

"And Leah?"

"Leah, does get into a lot of fights but I think it is more to protect her younger sisters instead of wanting to get into fights. I try to cut them some slack because I know that they have been under a lot of pressure since their mother died, especially Leah. They really need someone to help them. I hope you can, Agent Gibbs."

Gibbs just looked at her and smiled before walking out of the room. "DiNozzo, McGee, David, scan the perimeter."

"Yes, Boss."


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I don't NCIS.

Chapter 8

After assessing the perimeter, the team met back up in the parking lot and decided to have Ziva stay with Maddie while the three of them stayed with Leah and Elena.

Ziva had an easy time protecting Maddie, the girl was just as sweet as she remembered and they even managed to catch up during lunch. Tony, McGee, and Gibbs were having a much more difficult time. McGee kept thinking about the horrors of high school while Tony was trying to relive his glory days. Gibbs finally had enough and snapped at them to be quiet. After second period, Gibbs sent Tony back to headquarters to help Abby. He then had McGee shadow Lena while he shadowed Leah.

While following Elena around, McGee saw her get pushed around and shoved into lockers a lot. When coming out of her fourth period class, one of the girls in Leah's grade shoved Elena really hard into a locker. From her uniform, McGee could see that the girl was a cheerleader. McGee was about to interfere when Elena pleaded with him with her eyes to leave it alone. "Hey, Shepard, you have that homework I told you to do?" the girl said.

"Yeah, it's in my backpack."

The girl grabbed Elena's bag and dumped the contents on the floor. "Get it for me now." The girl said.

Elena got down on the floor and retrieved the homework. "Here you go." Elena said.

"This better be an A paper, last time I only got an A-."

"It will be an A paper, I don't know what happened last time."

"I'll tell you what happened, you got lazy. The only reason why you're even in this school is because your mommy bought your way in. Don't think for one minute that you belong here."

The girl walked away and Elena sank to her knees to pick up her things. McGee walked over to help and could see that Elena was holding back tears. "You alright?"

"Yeah, I'm o.k. She's just really mean and nasty."

"Yeah she is. Why do you let her push you around?"

"I don't know. Where you ever bullied?"

"Oh yeah. They used to have me do their homework for them too."

"Why'd you let them bully you?"

"I don't know, I guess it's because I was never all that confident and didn't stand up for myself."

"Well the one time I stood up for myself it didn't end well."

"What happened?"

"A story for another day, Timmy. C'mon it's lunch time." As they were walking, Elena looked at McGee and said, "McGee, thanks."

When Elena entered the lunch room, Leah just looked at her sister and knew that something was wrong. She saw Stacy Hinkhouse walk into the cafeteria a couple of minutes before Elena and now she realized that her sister had another run in with that nasty cheerleader. Leah started getting mad and Adam could tell. "Leah, you o.k.?" Adam looked around and saw Stacy and Elena and was able to put two and two together. "Leah, just let it go."

"No, Adam, this has gone on far enough. I'm putting an end to this." Leah got up and made her way over to the cheerleaders' table.

"May we help you?" Stacy asked sarcastically.

"Yeah, you can start by leaving my sister alone."

"Your sister and I were just having a nice little chat."

"Well leave her alone. I'm not gonna say it again."

"Well, Shepard, you're in luck, that whore of a mother of yours died and left you and your sisters alone. Honestly, how does a woman have three children without being married. Like I told Elena, your mother bought the two of you into this school. Probably whored around a bit too. You two don't belong here." At this point, Leah had enough and punched Stacy right in the nose. Stacy didn't stay down long and grabbed Leah and the two began a cat fight. Gibbs and McGee ran over to break up the fight. They pulled the two girls off of each other but they were ready to attack each other if the agents let go.

They heard a whistle and the students that were around, cheering on the fight, quickly dispersed. "Shepard, principal's office, now." Davenport said.

Leah broke free of Gibbs' grip and walked to the office. Gibbs and McGee followed and sat with her outside April's office. April opened the door and let the three of them in. "O.k., Leah what happened?"

When Leah didn't answer April sighed. "Do you see April, this girl is a trouble maker and she knows it. That's why she's keeping quiet. This is her fifth offense, April, you need to suspend her." Davenport said.

"Leah, please tell me what happened." When Leah didn't answer, April sighed and said, "I have no choice, I'm sorry, Leah, but I'm going to have to suspend you for a week."

"April, that is hardly ethical. This girl should be expelled."

"Owen, enough. I'm the principal and I will decide how to deal with my students. Starting tomorrow, Leah, you are suspended."

"I understand. Can I go now?"

"Yes. Agent Gibbs, may I have a moment?"

Gibbs closed the door and looked at April and said, "How, can I help you?"

"Agent Gibbs, I need you to talk to Leah. I know she was provoked, Stacy has been provoking Leah about her mother and her sisters for a while now but she won't say anything about it."

"I'll talk to her about it but you should talk to that cheerleader about respecting other people's parents."

"Don't worry I will. Also, you might be able to convince the girls to talk about their mother. I know it must be a sore subject, but I don't think they ever properly grieved for her and it is starting to affect them."

"I'll see what I can do." Gibbs walked out of the office and sighed. How was he going to help Jenny's daughters move past their mother's death when he still hadn't?


End file.
